What is the kindest option?
- Milims
- A selfsufficientish Regular

- Posts: 4390
- Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2006 9:06 pm
- Location: North East
What is the kindest option?
We have 3 cats and 2 are hunters (the third is and old baggage who stays in the house
). One of the cats frequently brings home small furry creatures - including a gerbil on one occasion
. He's recently begun bringing home small rabbits but he doesn't kill them at first - in fact there is usually not a mark on them when we take them off him. The thing is what is the kindest thing to do? Should we take them off him or just let him kill and eat them? If we take them off him what do we do next? Is it kinder to destroy them humanely - despite the fact that they appear unhurt or should we just take them back to where they came from and take their chances in a familiar environment? He's a lovely cat - a real softy who loves his belly tickled, but as soon as he oes outside he turns into a killing monster!
Let us be lovely
And let us be kind
Let us be silly and free
It won't make us famous
It won't make us rich
But damn it how happy we'll be!
Edward Monkton
Member of the Ish Weight Loss Club since 10/1/11 Started at 12st 8 and have lost 8lb so far!
And let us be kind
Let us be silly and free
It won't make us famous
It won't make us rich
But damn it how happy we'll be!
Edward Monkton
Member of the Ish Weight Loss Club since 10/1/11 Started at 12st 8 and have lost 8lb so far!
Oh Milims - you poor thing. What Sky has said is true - a quick neck-break is the kindest way unless you want to put yourself through the agony of trying to recover the situation (but they always die). And unless you want to put the rest of the world through sheer torture - as I do, because I despise killing things and get into a complete anti-human blue funk if I have to do so - then get some other brave soul to do it for you.
- red
- A selfsufficientish Regular

- Posts: 6513
- Joined: Sun Jul 30, 2006 7:59 pm
- Location: Devon UK
- Contact:
if you killed them and gave back to the cat.. will they eat them?
I used to carefully put unhurt animals back outside.. but the shear number of mice and rodents my cat brings in.. I only intervene if they are squealing now... otherwise i hope he eats it as otherwise it is a wasted life.
I used to carefully put unhurt animals back outside.. but the shear number of mice and rodents my cat brings in.. I only intervene if they are squealing now... otherwise i hope he eats it as otherwise it is a wasted life.
Red
I like like minded people... a bit like minded anyway.. well people with bits of their minds that are like the bits of my mind that I like...
my website: colour it green
etsy shop
blog
I like like minded people... a bit like minded anyway.. well people with bits of their minds that are like the bits of my mind that I like...
my website: colour it green
etsy shop
blog
- Rachel Squires
- Tom Good

- Posts: 67
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 3:09 pm
- Location: leicestershire
- Contact:
Rabbits
My cats bring the odd rabbit now and again and have usually eaten them by the time I find them. They do seem to relish them and eat everything apart from the ears. If I have to dispatch things, its usually injured birds and a quick pull on the neck surfices.
I have had your dilemma too, having been presented with a very much alive mole and several mice, voles and frogs which have to be released - but where? I'm glad that the occasional rat is always dead and Lily has even brought me a dead squirrel, despite her only weighing 3Kgs!
This reminds me of an experience that we had shortly after I moved in with John. It was spring and Tiger, my bengal decided that frog fishing in a neighbours pond was the thing. We were woken up several nights on the trot by the sound of a frog screaming it's head off in the lounge. I was relieved one morning to have had an unbroken night's sleep and was glad that his hunting had seemed to come to an end. So you can imagine my horror when I found a goldfish head as big as my hand on the lounge floor. To be that size, the poor thing must've been really old but Tiger had made a fast and I'm sure, a very tasty meal from it.
Rach.
I have had your dilemma too, having been presented with a very much alive mole and several mice, voles and frogs which have to be released - but where? I'm glad that the occasional rat is always dead and Lily has even brought me a dead squirrel, despite her only weighing 3Kgs!
This reminds me of an experience that we had shortly after I moved in with John. It was spring and Tiger, my bengal decided that frog fishing in a neighbours pond was the thing. We were woken up several nights on the trot by the sound of a frog screaming it's head off in the lounge. I was relieved one morning to have had an unbroken night's sleep and was glad that his hunting had seemed to come to an end. So you can imagine my horror when I found a goldfish head as big as my hand on the lounge floor. To be that size, the poor thing must've been really old but Tiger had made a fast and I'm sure, a very tasty meal from it.
Rach.
Rural World - Revealing the Heart of the Countryside
http://www.ruralworld.org
http://www.ruralworld.org
- Millymollymandy
- A selfsufficientish Regular

- Posts: 17637
- Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 6:09 am
- Location: Brittany, France
- Rachel Squires
- Tom Good

- Posts: 67
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 3:09 pm
- Location: leicestershire
- Contact:
Carp?
No, it was definately a goldfish but still just as embarrassing
as I'm sure that it had been nurtured and cared for just as much.
Tiger is actually a bit of a sod, the feline equivalent of a hoodie. I've had complaints that he goes into other peoples catflaps and eats their cats food and he gets through the magnetic ones by head butting them till they give in. He even faces down the neighbourhood dogs and chases them up the street. he also beats up everyone elses cats but Lily just treats him with distain, she's a very classy little lady, apart from when she's hunting.
Fortunately for me, they're both great with people and don't ever bite or scratch, even though John torments them mercilessly. They also put up with Moss, our sheep dog trying to herd them along with fairly good grace!
rach.
Tiger is actually a bit of a sod, the feline equivalent of a hoodie. I've had complaints that he goes into other peoples catflaps and eats their cats food and he gets through the magnetic ones by head butting them till they give in. He even faces down the neighbourhood dogs and chases them up the street. he also beats up everyone elses cats but Lily just treats him with distain, she's a very classy little lady, apart from when she's hunting.
Fortunately for me, they're both great with people and don't ever bite or scratch, even though John torments them mercilessly. They also put up with Moss, our sheep dog trying to herd them along with fairly good grace!
rach.
Rural World - Revealing the Heart of the Countryside
http://www.ruralworld.org
http://www.ruralworld.org
- Millymollymandy
- A selfsufficientish Regular

- Posts: 17637
- Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 6:09 am
- Location: Brittany, France
- Millymollymandy
- A selfsufficientish Regular

- Posts: 17637
- Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 6:09 am
- Location: Brittany, France
- Millymollymandy
- A selfsufficientish Regular

- Posts: 17637
- Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 6:09 am
- Location: Brittany, France
